About The Athenian. (Athens, Ga.) 1827-1832 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1827)
chasm wind< yet half hidde: age. But it past. True,/he boyhood, yet the; V. .wjlj ulet, seen at intervals Those who h and foil- the fate of on and sad, as/Jie cou PC3TET. r* THE THREE STARS. (THOM THE GERMAN OF KORNER.) There are three chcerinjr stars of light O’er life’s dark path that shine; And these fair orbs, so pure and bright, Are song, and lore, and wine! For oh! the soul of song hath power To charm the feeling heart, To sooth the mourner’s sternest boor, And bid his griefs depart! And wine can lend to song its mirth, Can joys unwonted bring, And paint this fair and lovely earth In charms of deathless spring. But thou, oh love! of all the throng Art fairest seen to shine, For thou canst sooth the soul-like song, And cheer the lieart-like wine. Then deign, fair orbs! to shed your ray Along my path of gloom, To guide me through life’s lonely way, And shine upon my tomb ! For oh! the song, the cup, the kiss, Can make the night divine: Then West be he who found the blisa Of sung, and love, and wine! ELEGY ON DAVID LA1NG, ESQ.* brushwood 9 that awoke the scenes were around my _ _:$d!ed not those feniing^ which were excited by the single Yew Tree. This was planted by my own hands, in other days, before the world h»d contaminated me, and before the sear and blight of its wrong, had withered life’s greener leaf.— It has been said that Love cannot live in its vigor in our young days—that feeling, to be intense, must obtain the energy of manhbod, and must possess the rich cultivation which thought and experience can give it, in order to exhibit moral strength and energy. But however true this may be, we cling to early recollections, early feelings, and early af fections, with a fervor which after things can not unwind. The Yew Tree was planted by myself at the head of the grave of my de parted Eleanor. My first, and perhaps oth ers may say, my childish love. I know not how it was, but the days flew swiftly by when I was assisting her through the intri cate parts of a difficult lesson, or at any other times rambling in thoughtless glee within the recesses of the wood and on the banks of the brook which babbled forth notes of joy. I know not that tve ever thought of love. The word surely never [ was spoken—but by a sympathetic species of attraction, we were ever together, and unhappy when apart; and somehow or oth- ' ' f - t ' . / * •' * —. . , ♦ ve e v c r l eiFAn interest in ose life has been profitless has wended his solitary gh a hope-crossing world, upon the dead a favor by giving, m a few years, beneath the Yew Tree, a grave to ICHABOD. Blacksmith and Joiner [without license] at Gretna er, I could never tell why it was, that I felt Green. By the Author of‘ Whipis and Oddities.* Ah me! what causes such complaining breath, Such Ibmale moans find flooding tears to flow? It is to chide with stem remorseless Death For laying Laing low! angry whenever she gave any mark of pre ference for another. But at the age of four teen she began to wax pale, and her foot be came less light upon the greensward. There was then an unreal light flashing from her From Prospect Home therecomes a sonnd of wo- bri ht wh i ch I now remember as terri- shrill nnrfl riprarvAnntr nun Inmnnt. I . J _ . A shrill and persevering loud lament, Echoed hy Mrs. T.’s Establishment V “ For six Young Ladies In a retired and healthy part of Kent,” All weeping, Mr. L—gone down to Hades! Thoughtful of grates, of convents, and the veil, Surrey takes up the tale, Aiid sll the nineteen sholars of Miss Jones, With the two parlour boarders, and th’ apprentice, (So universal this mistimed event is,) Are joining sobs and groans! The shock confounds all hyinenial planners, And chiyas the sweetest from their sweet beha- nftdrs. The girlaSft Manor House forget their manners, Ami utter sighs liko paviours! Down—djpvn through Devon and the distant shires Travel I lthc news of Death’s remorseless crime; And ip ail/hcarts, at once, all hope expires Of matey lies against time! * Aiding the northern route The road is'rfater’d h* postilions’ eyes— Tho topboot prices pensively about, And yellow] jackets are all stain’d with sighs. There is a so/und of grieving at the Ship, And aorty/hands are wringing at the Bell, in yla of David’s knell. The postbfoy’s heart is cracking—not his whip! *■ To gazel upon those useless empty cellars His way weerir horses seem so glad to slip— d think npon the dollars used to urge his gallop—quicker! quicker! All hope is fled, For Laing’s dead— Scar of Wakefield—Edward Gibbon’s vicar! The barristers shed tears, 'Enough to roast a snipe (snipes live on suction,)^ To think in after years * No suits will come of Gretna Green abduction, Nor knaves inveigle Young heiresses in marriage scrapes, or legal; The dull reporters Look truly sad and seriously solemn, To lose the future column On Hvmen-Smithey and its fond restorers! But grave Miss Daulby and the teaching brood Rejoice at quenching the clandestine flambeau, That never real beau of flesh arid blood bly beautiful. Hope seemed to revel in her fancy, and she looked toward the future with joyousness, and seemed to be reckless of evil, as though it could riot live on earth. It was then fhat she first began to take my arm toward the end even of a short ramble ; there was poetry even in her look—V>ut more in her language. It seemed as if the blaze of her mind was lit up by the burning of her corporeal powers, and that the intenseness of the one was created by tlwr decay of the other. It went on day by day, until some began to hint that there was a danger of consump tion.—I never shall forget her laughing, in credulous look, when upon a moonlight evening, as we were looking out from t^e window of her father’s cottage, I first con veyed to her the suspicions of myself and friends. l am not sick, sa : d she, and I ne ver knew an hour when friends were more dear and hope more enchanting. Oh ho. there is no danger, though I cannot ramble as I once did, because 1 do not feel as though it was proper,. anc( you as you groiv stronger, forget the weakness of our sex. Day by day went on and the hour of retiring became earlier on her part, and there was a tottering in her step—a decrease of appetite —a kind of cough—and the decay of weak ness. Still the spirit grew more bright as its aliment was taken away, and the sick chamber was in the place of the deerhke swiftness of her early health and years.— It was then for a while, that I was banished from her presence, for each day, in her esti mation, was to return her to the moonlight field wherein she had onco lightly tripped. I Effects of War.—It is remarked in a sta tistical article in a French journal, that the effect of the wars of the revolution has been to diminish the stature of the human species in that country. This is explained in the followingrtrianner: Soldiers are formed only of men who for their physical formation, are the elite of the youth of the country. For the space of thirty years, there was an im mense consumption of such men ; and in the mean time the care of re-peopling the country, was left, in a great part, to those men who were not large enough, strong enough, or well enough formed, for soldiers. The large proportion of men who are of short. stature is proved by the following facts: According to the report of the opera- tions of-the conscription in France for the year l§26,in the number of 1,033,422young men who were examined by the officers of revision,^ 380,213 were rejected because they were not four feet six inches in height The French foot is about three quarters of an inch longer than ours, consequently four feet and six inches French, are equal to about four feet nine and a half inches of our measure. After the rejection of the above proportion of men for the French army, it is ascertained from the inspections, that thirty seven in a hundred are under five feet one inch in height, and only forty five in a hun dred, over five feet two inches. - From these facts it would seem, that after rejecting in proportion of one third, for want of sufficient size, one half the soldiers of the French ar-; my are under five feet six inches, of oiir measure, in height.— 1 k-Boston Advertiser ’ £q>hts and all your nonsense had nothin, do with it. The war was entirely owing to neighbour M’s pig getting into neighbour T’s garden. Hold still, gentlemen, and;:-! will prove it. Burrill you know was M’s lawyer and got his case -for him. T. was representative to the Assembly, from the town of S—; now you know Burrill and Howell were candidates for Uncle Sam’s Senate, and every body was at work on one side and t’other, and after counting noses Burrill’s friends thought all was safe, but when the vote was taken, T. though he was a good , staunch Federalist, and of course bound to vote for Burrill, remembering the pig law suit, would not vote for him, so that Howell, by voting for himself, got elected by one majority. Now, if it had not been for the pig law suit, T. would have voted for Burrill, and he would have been chosen Se nator. Now don’t interrupt me gentlemen— now, you all remember that when the ques tion of declaring War came before the Se nate, Mr. Bayard moved to postpone it six weeks, to give time to hear from England, and his motion you know was lost by only one vote—one Jerry Howell voting against it. Now if Burrill had been there he would have voted for the motion, and the declaration of War would have been deferred. Before six Weeks expired, news arrived that the Orders in Council were repealed, and thus the principal alleged cause of War revmoed. Of course if the delay had been obtained, War would never have been declared, and thus I have-proved that neighbour M’s pig getting into neighbour T’s garden, was the real,cause of it.”—Hurrah from all hands— six more mugs of flfji, our town of S has the honour of having produced the cause ickle entered under the left wing, and tfife i.iow having been given strongly, went through the ribs; and passing through the liver proved instantly fatal. The Eaglb was afterwards sold to Mr. Chasseur, who has stuffed it bnd placed it in his museum, where it may now be seen. H iifcjth^ririg- tailed or Russian Eagle. The 'AVings ex pand upwards of six feet. Its stomach was opened and found entirely empty. The lit tle boy'Hid not receive a scratch. ± Had the eagle seized him, his talons, which are of uncommon strength, and about an inch and a half long, must have lacerated him dreadfully. There is little doubt, without the bird was weakened by hunger, that a; blow or two from its beak would have torn but its eyes, and with ‘the instinct peculiar to birds of prey, broken in a moment ^e thin parts of the skull about the eye, and almost instantly destroyed his life. Several eagles of this species breed in the high Capes about Cape Tourmente, below St. Joachim. In the fall they feed cliiefly- upon sea fowl and the carcases of fish. In the summer months they are destructive to poultry, often carrying off n large turkey or a goose in their claws, from the barn door. The present is the first well authenticated instance of their attacking children in this country, which has come to our knowledge. —Quebec Gazette. Prudent attempt at Suicide.—A man a- bout two miles north of the v 11 age of Rome attempted on Monday of last week, to cut his throat. He was said to be intoxicated, but he was sober enough to cut his throat with so much care, that there could be but little danger. He pulled the skin as far out of the late War, and making a gentleman of I as he could, thrust a knife through it, with General JACKSON into the bargain—for if the back to his neck and cut out instead of Joint Slock Salvation ^ ss «C*At the Gospel Tract Society Mealing the Rev Mr. Evanson was facetious on the subject of a Joint Stock Company to buy shares in Purgatory. “ There was actually, he knew a9 a fact, a Society of this kind in full vigor in Dublin. Each shareholder, hy paying penny a week, purchased the right of having so many masses said for himself, and many others for his relatives. The first mass was to be celebrated on, his death the second a month afterwards.; the next at the end offour months; and finally, there was one twelve months after his death, by which time it was calculated the soul of the poor shareholder might possibly be released. Ry a curious arrangement, the relatives were to benefit in the following order:—Fathers first, and afterwards motherd, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts. (Laughter.) This story was positively true. He did not state it to raise a smile, though it had produced that effect. Such was the state to which the people of Ireland was reduced by Popery—gulled, not only out of their pence, but out of their salvation also. (Cheers.”)-—Via agree, that such a company, if i t exists, is not exactly entitled to the respect of wisdom, but there are es- it had not been for the War he would never have been the “ Hero of New-Orleans ”— and in that case nobody would have ever thought of him for President!—Con. Adv. in. This is what we call prudently done. The man is in a fair way to recover. May he live a thousand years as we say in Spain, tablishments noroi teal ui.au ui uesu auu uiuuu i .•% . j : : ’ i i Will henceforth lure young ladies from their | absence and my own entreaty placed me beside her bed, to read to her the works of fact and fiction, and to watch over her still and painless slumbers. There was no Chambaud. Sleep, David Laing, sleep In peace, though angry governesses spurn thee! Over thy grave a thousand maidens weep, And honest postboys mourn thee! Sleep, David!—safely and serenely sleep, Bewept of many a learned legal eye! To the mould above thee in a heap ’• Drowns many a lid that heretofore was dry— Especially of those that plunging deep In love, would “ ride and tie!” Had I command, thou should&t have gone thy ways] In chaise and pair—and lain in Pere la Chaise. violent breaking down of the guards of life but they silently slipped away, one hy one, desertin the fair form of the dying saint, like the fading leav es of Eden when touched by the frost of sin. But strange as it may seem, the looker-cin imbibes the incredulity as to ultimate event, cherished by the de ceived sufferer. The hours of converse les- * On the third instant died, at Springfield, near I sening in duration imperceptibly each day, Gretna Green, David Laing, aged 72, who had for thirty-five years officiated as high-priest of Gretna Green. He caught cold on his way to Lancaster, to give evidence on the trial of the Wakefields, from the effect of which he never recovered.—Eng. pap- THE BACHELOR’S SOLILOQUY, Yes—yes—I’ll lead a single life, (A married man is lost,) For the dearer that a wife may be, The more that wife will cost! Ye meddling match-makers may try, To wheedle me, ’tis true; But tho’ I’ll never match your choice, I’ll be a match for you. Myself to you I’U never lend, So fret, and sigh, and groan; For tho’ I am ^ single man, I’ll prove I’m not; a loan. I’ve sought all London thro’ and tliro\ are ua consump seems surface ishing the watchman over the and the stream of life stagnant, though beneath its : concealed outlet is fast dimin- I’ve i degree, I pretty maitU, nearer home which involve absurdities of d much graver cast, and are indeed no joking matters. It is very weak in men, according to our ideas, to form an association for the redemption of their souls, and to contribute their money in the manner described for that purpose; but what is Mr. Evanson the scoffer, what are we the 1 com mentators, but forced members of a great Joint Stock Company^ as it were, of the whole nation, for the maintenance of a grand contrivance for the salvation of our souls? The Dublin Joint Stock Company pay vo luntarily for masses for their souls; we pay, whether we would or no, for the delivery of prayers, or rather for the support of Par sons, for the good of ours. The Dublin folks only pay for the receipt in which they have faith : we are placed under the disa greeable necessity of paying for that parti cular receipt in which nine out of ten have no faith. Our Dissenters do not believe that the road to Heaven lies through the Church porch, but nevertheless they must pay the Parson his tithes, or go to jail. This difference between ourselves and the Dub lin Joint Salvation Company seems simply this—that they throw away their money un der a delusion, and we have it extorted from us under an imposition, may perhaps belong to them ; but it is not particularly wise in us to pay for what we do not want, and . we cannot indulge in a laugh at tfieir expense, without incurring the But pot one made for me! * * - A bachelor I, my friends may laugh, No Benedict they’ll find me; Free as the air I’ll.live and die, If I leave no hebr behind me! ■’ ' w; r FROM THE BOSTON SPECTATOR. THE YEW TREE. How often do inanimate things awaken the memory of past incidents and reflections Conveying by a single glance, reminiscences which either delight us, or rankle more se verely an ancient wound. Not long since, 1 experienced the truth of the remark above carelessly made, when I sat beneath the branched of a yew which overhung a Still rivulet and courted the evening breeze with its laughing leaves, on which were dropped the molten silver of moonlight.—The tree in and of itself was n«t worth a passing re mark, except that it bore a green age upon its trunk, and it stood mpleasant melancho ly, in a vale wljtefc was Unadorned by art, yet surrounded hy the richest ornaments of nature. Theje, in the horizon, waved the dark outline/of tbefotest, the hill on which proudly towered the pine, awl throngh its was the heavy hollow sound of the earth, as it fell upon the coffin of her who alone was dear to me—^and there w as the affec tionate kiss of my dear mother, now more distinctly remembered, as she drew me, in stupid and heart broken abstraction, from the grave of my Eleanor, and the gentle re proach that she gave me when she said that the good man certainly should have been pre pared for an event he must long since have been convinced was inevitable. The days of distraction and sickness which followed, are a mere blank on the scroEl of time. But , the planting of the Yew Tree at the head of Farmers* Hotel, in the grave of my beloved,, whan reason had returned, is. still fresh in4he drearer wastes of memory, and here, at tile end of many years, I sit under the broad shadow of its branches, and the young heart which I ador ed sleeps a mere “ clod ofthe valley,” bo- An Irish Grip.—One Jonathan Brown, a tailor (by trade) was placed at the bar, charged as disorderly, and with having as saulted Patrick Carthy, a watchman of St. Andrew’s Holborn. “ At a quarter before twelve on Saturday night, please your Worship,” said Mr. Pa- so trick Carthy, “1 sees this Brown extended on the broad of his back, on Holborn-bridge, and a woman searching his pockets like any thing.” “ Watchman,” said some gentle men to me, “ you ought to look into this.” So I goes up to the place, and “ Come my good woman,” says 1, “ is this your hus band?” but instead of making me a proper answer, she told me to do something which would be a shame to mintion to your honour; and with that, I pull her off of him, for I didn’t know but she was after robbing him. Well then, when Pd unloaded him of the woman, up he jumps upon his two legs, and knocks me down, and 1 fell a top of him! and then the gentlemen, seeing me in that sort of way, one of them stoops down and gives my rattle a twirl, and some of my partners soon come to my ’sistance; but “ sure,” thinks I, “ he’ll be after gettiu away from me before they come !” so I just got an Irish grip of his left hand thumb between my teeth—and here he is to the fore, your honour.”' It appeared by the evidence for the de fence, that Mr. Brown was not so sober as he ought to have been; and that his wife got him down for the purpose of taking his mo ney from him, for tear he should lose it. She was thus occupied when Mr. Pat Car thy interfered, and she thought his inter ference was extremely officious and im proper, Economy.—A rich and parsimonious per son, remarkable for having by his will pre ferred public charities to his relations, was fond of going to the theatre, and taking his great coat with him. But where should he leave this useful appendage during the per formance ? The box-keepers would expect at least six-pence ; and, should he leave it at a coffee-house, he must spend three-pence to obtain house-room for it. His invention supplied him with a method cheaper and equally secure. He pledged his garment every evening that he attended the play, at a pawnbrokers, near the door, for a shilling. This sum he carried back at the close of the play, added one penny to it for interest, and received his great coat again safe and sound, as if it had literally been laid up in lavender. Ontai, the South Sea Islander, was once at a dinner in London, where stowed Mo- rello cherries were offered to him. He in stantly jumped up and quitted the room.— Several followed him, but he told them that he was no more accustomed to partake of human blood than they were. He continu ed rather sulkey for some time, and it was only by the rest of the party partaking of them that he would be convinced of his error, and induced to return again to the table. ke of existence. I cannot re count the occurrences of houjs as they went onward, each one tinged by the light of hope and the shade of fear—but I iremember ’that I was a mourner in a long train, at the head of which was the corpse and pall. I cannot forget her choice of the banks of the streanf once so dear to .us, for the deposit of her young remains. I do, as it we re in a dream, remember the tears that poured from the check of our beloved curate, as he commit ted “ dust unto dust,” and expatiated upon the uncertainty of life and the certainty that virtue slept not within the grave. There- hazard of unpleasant retorts. The masses, tnafl f L a liAcimr rtyvll. n Aim J aI* iL » _ * 1 _ * i« *1?* 1 . f* it * in all probability, do quite as much for their souls as lheBishop does for burs. “ Brother, brother, we are both in the wrong.”—Lon. Examiner. ‘ * Cause of ihelale War with Great Britain.— It may seem strange, at first glarfcc, that the last war in which this counttyVas H gngaged, utter was occasioned by a trespass a Rhode Island pig. Yet it is very cleverly proved in the extract copied below :— “ Some time since a party of village wise heads, assembled ’ in the bar-room of the S Rhode Island, were exhausting their learning and temper in discussing the causes of the late War. As the dispute waxed warm and seemed about coming to the decision, so common on such occasions, of bloody heads and dis figured faces, thus proving that we have neath the eye of an aged, careworn, passion- enough ofthe War spirit among us,' to make less, single man. Locks, whitened hy time arc in tho place of those through which her fairv fingers once have played, anil.the trem bling hand and totter of age, remind me that I must soon follow to the narrow house, my first, pure, beaming, affectionate, Jong lost love. ■*" slightc auses sufficient tolightWie 6atMe. 1 (1 was just at this critical period, a plain honest farmer stepped forward and interposed, with “don’t lose your tempers, gentlemen, you are all wrong. I can explain the who[e matter to ’you. Orders in Council, Berlin Politeness.—At the battle 1 bf Spires a re giment had orders nut to grant 'any quarters; and an unhappy enemy, )vounded and dis armed, begged hard, for his life from one of its officers. Touched with his situation, the other replied, “ I pity ypur misfortune, and ask any think else but that, and upon my honour I will grant your request.” March of Mind.—A celebrated printsel- ri,, ... , „ , , , ler, at the West-end of the town, was rather The Alderman, however, thonght other- puM , )ed „ aay or tw0 a( , D 0 „ bejng askcd wise, inasmuch as it was impossible Mr. Pat Carthy could be aware of her authority; and, therefore, he directed that Mr. Pat Car-, int3 of nnva] character8 , without findiog the thy should receive some recompense forthe object of hi3aearcb , be inqaired of bis s cus . trouble they had given him.—He got half a crown for it, and thought himself in high ] luck. met,) who possessed nothing but a few worm-eaten pieces of furniture. He had a niece, who attended him in his la: t moments, not even expecting that his property would pay for his burial. He had loved his cat very much, and when it died of old age, he had it stuffed, and placed it on 1 she top of j trifling error he had fallen into, his bed. The niece thought .rhe would preserve it as a memorial, and calling in the owner of the house as a witness, when began to make an inventory of the she wretched furniture of the deceased, the cat] was lifted down from its high place, llts weight surprised them, and they hastened j to open it, when lo! there came several! rolls of gold. The money was counted, and found to amonnt to the sum of 18,000 j fora portrait of Captain Nodh of the navy. After turning- over half a dozen portfolios of tomer what reign Captain Noah lived in? “ I should imagine at a very early period,” replied the'learned Theban.—“The fact is,” he continued, “ I am illustrating Lord A Miser.—On the 18th August, there I Byron’s “ English Bards and Scotch Re died at Paris a poor rag ga:he;er^ (chiffo- j viewers,” and the captain is thus introduced by his Lordship :— “ By more or less, are sung in every book, From Captain Jibah down to Captain Cook.!* ^ It is almost needless to add> that the print- seller laughed heartily at the ignorance of the applicant, to whom he explained the One sometimes Parliamentary Pun. hears a good thing said in the Gallery, as well as in'the body of the House of Com mons,—White Mr. Whitmore and' Sir F. Burdett were conversing upon the difficulty of getfilig competent Membeha to inquire into the Water Companies, a Gallery Mem ber humourously observed—“ Why, you, have only two Commoners Jn your whole francs (about 712/.) Then was the piety body fit for this water task, namely—Foun- l of the poor girl rewarded. She is now rich, and owes her happiness ta'an old mgi gatherer, who suffered and fasted all his life to amass, this treasure.— Consiilntionel. tain Wilson, and Spring Rice.- Gas. -Brighton Wonderful peculiarityinthe English cha- I racier.-—The French, however wretched may be their condition, ate attached to life, while the English frequently detest life in Attempt of an Eagle to devour a Boy.— AveTry singular occurrence happened’the! , , week before last/intheParish of St. Am- [tho midst of affluence amf splendour. Eng- brorse,-aboutnih^frtflei front this city. Two |l^i,crimitials are not dragged, but run to the Sloys, “the one seven and the other five yedm J pWpf^Sf execution, where they laugh* sing, olil. amusedthemselves in an adjoidtd^ field (‘Cot jokes, insult the spectators; (/ no trying to reap, while their parents were at dinner. A large eagle soon came sailing over them-^-and with a swoop attempted tb seize the eldest,-bbt luckily missed him. The bird, not at all dismayed, sat on the ground at a short distance. hangman happens to be present, hang them semes.—Memoirs of Lewis bery. A merchant in London, several years ago, The bold little | ordered a hackney coachman to wait till his fellow defended himself against his fierce return from on hmmj'a VffflpfL It sailed antagonist with:’ lWf sickle he had^fo'rtu- with the merchant to the Wfpt Indies and nately and when ~ 1 ^e ' frfoi j jEre cjutrge4 and Milan Pecreob, Free TrAde—Saifer*ritrashed upon him Ire struck nt If ' The touting, nna recovered Ml. ■MR
